Abstract
In light of the integration of digitalization and the energy revolution, digitalization can be integrated into the energy industry to develop energy-saving technologies and improve resource allocation efficiency. On the basis of 2013–2019 Chinese provincial panel data, this paper measures the level of green energy efficiency based on the super-EBM-DEA model and analyzes the linear relationship, nonlinear relationship, and potential mechanism between digitalization and green energy efficiency. The findings indicate that (1) overall, both China’s digitalization and green energy efficiency formed a steady upward trajectory during the sample period. Digitalization showed a spatial characteristic of extending and spreading from the eastern region to the central and western regions. Green energy efficiency was characterized by obvious regional heterogeneity. (2) Progress in digitalization has a significant driving effect on green energy efficiency. Subdimensional analysis shows that this driving effect mainly comes from digital development and digital transactions. (3) The impact of digitalization on green energy efficiency presents a threshold effect of economic agglomeration (with a threshold of 0.0257 and a marginally increasing, positive driving trend) and population agglomeration (with a threshold of 4.2750 and a marginally decreasing, positive driving trend). (4) Decomposing changes in green energy efficiency into scale efficiency and pure technical efficiency, this study shows that pure technical efficiency gains due to digitalization are the main driver of green energy efficiency improvements. Finally, some specific policy recommendations are proposed.
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All data generated or analyzed during the current study are presented in this article. Raw data will be accessible from the corresponding author if required.
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This work was supported by Xinjiang Key Research Project for Sustainable Development of History, Culture and Tourism (Grant number [LY2020-03]) and Xinjiang Department of Commerce Key Project (Grant number [XJSW2020-09]).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Bing Chen, Kun Wang, Yuhong Li, and Weilong Wang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Kun Wang, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Chen, B., Wang, K., Li, Y. et al. Can digitalization effectively promote green energy efficiency? The linear and nonlinear relationship analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 23055–23076 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32577-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32577-7